“This is an amazing group of songwriters and songwriter/artists,” said Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation chair John Van Mol in a statement. “Every one of them is extremely worthy of induction, and it is our honor to place each of their names in nomination.”

Brooks, Gatlin, Grant, Jackson and Van Zandt are nominated in the Songwriter/Artist category, while the other 10 writers received nods in the songwriter category (though many of them are singers as well). The nominated songwriters are: John Bettis (“Slow Hand” by Conway Twitty, “Top of the World” by The Carpenters and Lynn Anderson); Robert Byrne (“Two Dozen Roses” by Shenandoah and “”Rose Bouquet” by Phil Vassar); J.J. Cale (Eric Clapton’s “Cocaine” and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Call Me The Breeze); Jan Crutchfield (“Statue of a Fool” by Jack Greene, Perry Como’s “Dream On Little Dreamer"); Mark James (“Suspicious Minds” by Elvis Presley, “Always On My Mind” by Willie Nelson); Dan Penn (“I’m Your Puppet” by James & Bobby Purify, “The Dark End Of The Street” by James Carr and many others); Gretchen Peters (“Independence Day” by Martina McBride,” “The Chill Of An Early Fall” by George Strait); Thom Schuyler (“16th Avenue” by Lacy J. Dalton, “Love Will Turn You Around” by Kenny Rogers); Allen Shamblin (“I Can’t Make You Love Me” by Bonnie Raitt, “The House That Built Me” by Miranda Lambert); and John Scott Sherrill (“Nothin’ But The Wheel” by Patty Loveless, “Would You Go With Me” by Josh Turner).

From those groups, two songwriters and one songwriter/artist will be inducted into the Hall at a Renaissance Hotel dinner on Sunday, October 16. Tickets for the event will go on sale in late August.

After a lifetime spent playing saxophone for others, helping Grammy-winning notables such as Delbert McClinton and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown realize their musical ambitions, Nashville session and stage musician Dennis Taylor recorded his debut album in 2010, at age 56.

It was precisely the album he’d wanted to make, with rousing, New Orleans-inspired jazz and R&B, soulful blues and even a Beatles ballad, filtered through Taylor’s distinctive sensibility and aided by roaring Hammond organ and crackling drums. It was, for the first time, a full expression of his own musical art, which had previously been displayed in solos, not songs, and certainly not a full-length album. Taylor approved a cover photo, arrived at a song sequence and was proud of it all.

He then toured in McClinton’s band, played an October show in Greenville, Tex., had a heart attack, and died. Four months later, his album, Steppin’ Up, is available. The Bluebird Café will host a CD release party Sunday afternoon, and Dennis Taylor won’t be there for it.

“A couple of nights before he died, we were sitting on the bus and he said, ‘Man, I want to really thank you for singing on this album,’” says McClinton, whose work on “Since I Fell For You” provides the album’s only vocal. “He said, ‘I’ve wanted to do this forever, and it’s absolutely perfect.’ I looked at him, looked back, and he was gone.”Continue reading →

Click to see a gallery of photos shot during some of Elvis Costello's many visits to Tennessee (this image: James O'Mara).

Earlier this year, Elvis Costello stood in the middle of the studio floor at Sound Emporium, conducting musicians while he sang. Producer T Bone Burnett and engineer Mike Piersante perched behind the soundboard, charged with capturing real, live music in real time.

“An awful lot of the records we love the most were made under these conditions,” said Costello, recalling the making of his new National Ransom album, out Tuesday, Nov. 2 through Hear Music. “We take advantage of modern techniques of editing, but 95 percent of what you hear on this record you could hear when we declared it to tape.”

These were not three-chord country songs Costello was intent on capturing. Costello was leading Nashville musicians including vocalist Jim Lauderdale, Dobro great Jerry Douglas, bass man Dennis Crouch and guitarist Buddy Miller through works of considerable complexity and nuance. And while most studio vocalization is done without theatrics or visible emotion, Costello performed as if in front of a packed concert hall.

“He was absolutely on fire, and it was inspiring to watch,” said Lauderdale, a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter who tours in Costello’s band, The Sugarcanes. “He had so much energy and was intent on everyone understanding the stuff that he had created so clearly in his head. You knew there was musical greatness being created. What everybody who makes records aspires to, Elvis was doing.”Continue reading →

Fritts played in Kris Kristofferson's band for many years, and he has made a mark as a singer, songwriter, session man and part-time movie actor. Plus, he has two nicknames: Funky Donnie and The Alabama Leaning Man.

The Decoys include David Hood, Kelvin Holly, Scott Boyer, Mike Dillon and NC Thurman, and usually when Fritts plays the room gets filled with primo musicians who invariably find their way up to the stage. In the past, we've seen Dan Penn, Delbert McClinton, Wayne Carson, Billy Swan, Dickey Lee and others collaborate with Fritts on the Douglas Corner stage.